Paper-file.



PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904. M. G. BRISTOW.

PAPER FILE.

APPLIOATION FILED 3B3. 24, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

Inranior: WA s. B \JM Vii/Mamm CFGM No. 775,645. PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904.

M. G. BRISTOW. PAPER FILE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, 1903.

NO MODEL- 2SHEE1S-BHEET 2.

min/3516,11 I Inrenion I UNITED STATES Patented November 22, 1904:.

PATENT OFFICE.

PAPER-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,645, dated. November 22, 1904.

Application filed February 24, 1903. serial No. 144,802. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, MICHAEL GEORGE BRIS- trow, manufacturers agent, of the city of Ottawa, in the county of Carleton,Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Files, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in paper-files; and the objects of my invention are to devise a paper-file in which letters, documents, plans, or any other kind of papers which it is desirable to file away without folding may be kept, further objects being to make the deviceextremely cheap and simple in construction and such that any letter or document may be obtained in the shortest possible time and with a minimum amount of trouble.

It is also an object of my invention to avoid the necessity of punching holes in the papers to be filed, which is a disadvantage in most files at present in use; and it consists, essentially, of a sheet of stiff material-such as pa per, cardboard, or the likeof a size slightly greater than the largest paper With which the file is to be used, a pocket being formed at one end of the sheet adapted to receive one end of the papers filed, a base-board being also provided, withmeans for securing a number of such sheets thereto, the pocket on each sheet being designed to contain the papers filed under one or more headings and the various parts of the device being constructed and arranged in detail, as hereinafter more particularly described.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my paperfile complete. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the center of the paper-file. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the uprights to which the sections of the file are removably secured. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a file in which certain alternative forms of some of the parts are illus trated. Fig. 6 is a section through the center of the paper-file shown in Fig. 5.

In the drawings, like letters of reference indioate corresponding parts in each figure.

The paper-file complete is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, in which A is the base-board, which may be made of any suitable stiff material and may be of any desirable form. B is one sectionof the file. This section consists of a sheet 6 of stiff material, such as paper, cardboard, or sheet metal. At the lower end of this sheet a pocket 6 is formed in any suitable manner, this pocket being intended to receive the lower ends of letters, documents, plans, or the like, the upper or distinguishing ends extending up beyond the edge of the pocket. I have illustrated one method of constructing the pocket 6, which consists of a sheet of suitable material 6 which is secured flexibly to the sheet 6 by means of side and end bellows-hinges If b If; but it is to be understood that this pocket may be formed in a variety of wayssuch, for example, as by folding over the end of the sheet I) and providing suitable side pieces. When the papers are placed in the file with their edges extending considerably beyond the upper edge of the pocket 6, it will be desirable to provide means for holding the upper edge down, so that the papers will not become creased or torn. Suitable means may be provided for accomplishing this purpose; but the preferable means consists of a short strip 6' of tape or other suitable material, which is secured at one end to the upper sheet 6 of thepocket by being glued between the sheet and an'edge-protecting piece 5 which is made of cloth, paper, or other suitable material. The other end of the strip Z) is provided with a fastening device for securing it to the sheet 6. This fastening device consists, preferably, of a metal plate 6*, having a slot 6 at one end, in which the end of the strip is secured. The other end of this plate is provided with a slot 5 ending in an enlarged hole 6. The head of a stud I), which is secured to the upper end of the sheet 6, is designed to be passed through the hole 6 and the neck of the stud is then drawn into the slot 6 thus securely holding the end of the strip down over the letters or other papers which are in the file. Ifdesirable, the pocket may be divided into a number of compartments by inserting cards, such as 6 The section B may be used separately in a number of ways where it is desirable to file away only documents .or papers which come under one heading, and in such a case it may be secured to the base-board by any suitable 100 -which come under one or more letters of the.

alphabet. It is therefore desirable that any one section may be readily removed from the file independently of all the other sections.

In order that this may be accomplished, suitable means may be provided; but the means which I prefer to adopt I will now describe. At the upper edge of the sheet]; one or more slots I), substantially spiral in form, are cut. Two such slots are preferably used, and they are exactly similar in form, extending first inwardly from the edge of the sheet, then curving around both in the same direction, and terminating in short slots or holes 6 C C are uprights which are secured to the baseboard A and extend upwardly therefrom. These uprights are set apart exactly the same distance as the distance between the slots I) b. The upper ends of these uprights are preferably secured together by a cross-bar 0, attached to or forming part of the same, in order that they may be held from spreading. The lower ends of the posts may be secured to the base-board in any suitable manner; but the preferable means consists in forming double bends c 0 at the lower ends of the uprights, the said double bends being designed to grip the edge of the baseboard between their lower and upper parts. The inner extremities of the lower bends may be provided with eyes 0 through which suitable tacks or screws 0 may be driven into the base-board. It will now be seen that a section which is secured to the uprights C C, as shown in the drawings, may be very readily removed therefrom by simply giving the section a twist and then drawing it straight out. Any desirable letter or paper may then be removed from the section, and the section may be at once replaced by simply raising the sections which come above it and slipping it into place. In order to facilitate getting the slots 6 to engage the uprights O G, the ends of these slots may be slightly flared. as indicated. When the sheet I) is made of paper, it will be desirable to reinforce the upper edge, and for this purpose a double strip of tin or other suitable sheet metal I)" may be provided, the edge of the sheet 6 being included between the folds thereof. The slots I) will then of course be stamped or otherwise cut completely through the two thicknesses of tin or other sheet metal and the one thickness of the sheet b.

follows First, the papers need not be punched and need only be slipped into the pocket 7),

their upper edges being held down by suitable means. This prevents the edges of the letters or other papers being torn or becoming folded or crinkled, and, further, the sections may be separately removed entirely independent of each other, so that any one paper may be obtained without inconvenience. Another portion of the device which greatly enhances the value of the file is the means which I have devised for securing the sections to the base-board. It will be seen that by this means the sections may be separately removed by simply raising the higher sections on the file, so as to leave the desired section free to move. This feature of the invention alone. will save a great amount of time, as it is well known that in previous files where holes were punched in the paper of the letter itself a very considerable delay was caused, owing to the necessity of turning all y the letters above the letter desired completely over on the posts before any one letter could be removed.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, in these Views certain alternative forms for the various parts of the file are shown. First the method of securing the sections to the uprights consists in employing a'rod D, which is held in suitable guides and is provided with two projecting ends d d, which are normally held in the position shown in Fig. 5 by the spring E. In this position the ends (1 OZ close the openings of the slots F F, which are formed in the upper edge of the sectionB, thus securing the section to the uprights C C. On pulling the end of the rod outwardly it will be seen that the slots will be opened, thus permitting the removal of the section. In some cases this construction might be preferable to that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but as it is more expensive the latter is deemed preferable. I also show in Figs. 5 and 6 an alternative means for securing the upper ends of the letters. This consists of a substantially L-shaped strip of tin G, having hinges g, by which it is secured to the upper portion of the section, and a spring g of suitable form, which forces it normally against the edges of the letter. This alternative, however, is also more expensive than the device shown and previously described for holding down the letters; but it may be used in places where it is necessary that the upper edges of the letters should all be held down.

In constructing my invention it is to be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the exact form of the various parts shown and v described, as considerable variations might be made in the details of construction of my file without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example,various-means for securing the uprights C C to the base-board might be employed. Also a number of devices could be used for securing the sections to the uprights, also for securing the upper edges of the papers contained in the file; but such changes and alterations requiring mere mechanical skill need not be here described.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A section for a device of the class described comprising a sheet of stiff strong material having a pocket at the lower end there of, the upper end of said pocket being open and means on the section for holding down the upper ends of the papers protruding from the pocket as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with the base-board of a plurality of sections having pockets formed at their lower ends the upper ends of said pockets being open to receive papers to be filed, independent means on each section for holding down the upper edges of the papers which extend above the upper edges of the pockets and means for securing the sections 50 3118' base-board as and for the purpose speci- 3. In a device of the class described the combination with the base-board, of a plurality of sections designed to contain papers under various headings, said sections having correspondingly-shaped spiral slots or grooves extending inwardly from their upper edges and with the spirals running in the same direction, uprights secured to the base-board at a distance equal to the distance between the spiral grooves the sections of the file being adapted to be removably secured to the uprights by means of said spiral slots as and for the purpose specified.

4. In adevice of the class described the combination with the section having a pocket formed at its lower end, of a strip of flexible material secured to the outer wall of the pocket and means for securing the upper end of said flexible strip removably to the upper portion of the section as and for the purpose specified.

5. In adevice of the class described the combination with the base-board and the sections adapted to be removably secured thereto, of a pair of uprights having an integral crosspiece connecting their upper ends, the lower ends of said uprights being formed with double bends, the said double bends being de signed to grip the edge of the base-board between their lower and upper parts as and for the purpose specified.

Signed at the city of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, this 16th day of February, 1903.

MICHAEL GEORGE BRISTOW.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. FETHERSTONHAUGH, J. A. SYMES. 

